In the late 1950’s, influenced both by developments in contemporary architectureand the technological advances of the space race, a small group of Japanese designers began to produce works under the banner “The Metabolists.” In a post WWII Japan, where many of the cities and traditional structures had been reduced to rubble by bombs, these architects, artists, and urban planners were primarily concerned with rebuilding cities and creating housing structures.

Unlike other modern architecture, that minimized materials and detailing, the Metabolists designed cities that imagined a future of limitless resources. Their philosophy proposed that architecture should mimic the natural ability of organisms to change or mutate over time, according to necessity. Heavily influenced by modern technology, the structures often consist of individual modules plugged into larger adaptable super structures. Kurokawa’s “Nakagin Capsule Tower” is the most well-known example of Metabolist built work with interior modules, evocative of scenes from 2001’s “A Space Odyssey.” The large structures address future issues of housing and the individual nature of the modules maintains personal autonomy in increasingly crowded cities. The Metabolists developed a concept of form and function that radically deviated from the established norm in both Japan and around the world. Works like Kikutake’s “Marine City”and Kurokawa’s “Helix City” are examples of the playful ingenuity of the futurist design.

The movement itself proved to be short lived. By 1970, the group had split up and went their separate ways. While the popularity of Metabolist design waned, the movement vaulted several of its members, like Kenzo Tange and Kisho Kurokawa, to international recognition. And it introduced postmodern design to Japan.Most of the projects proposed by The Metabolists were not meant to, and could never, be built. They were simply exercises to rethink how a society could rebuild itself on technocratic utopian ideals. At the time the structures represented a technological vision of the future.

In hindsight, fifty years after the group was founded, how do you view the Metabolist designs?

Jordan Meerdink, a former GSP blogger, is a graduate of the The Ohio State University. He holds a B.S. in Architecture with a minor in studio art. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jordan inherited an early interest in mechanics and construction from his grandfather, a developer who was one of the early practitioners of prefabricated housing, and his father who is a retired store owner and highly capable D.I.Yer. Currently living in New York City, he continues to produce art and furniture with a focus on smart, ecologically responsible design. Jordan has a special concern for design that serves people outside the traditional clientele of architects, with an interest in architecture that deviates from the beaten path,
ranging from Baroque churches to dismantled bomb shelters.

2 Responses to “The Metabolist Movement: Adaptable Super Structures”

Modern metabolism can be seen in the works of Greg Lin (though he would not claim to be a metabolist). In his rabid pursuit of “near-symmetry as is found in nature”, he attempts to find an architecture that acts and metabolizes as nature does, in other words the natural pattern is the main organizer for architectural space. Stepping away from the purely architectural, recent city planning efforts have attempted to mimic natural systems for traffic and pedestrian flow. A most fascinating example is planners who grew bacteria in a petri dish with a scale model of the city they were interested in to see where the bacteria made connections. According to biologists, bacteria will always utilize the most efficient path.